Wire nail



' WIRE NAIL 4 Filed Jan. 26, 1925 Patented Sept. 4, 1923.

' UNITED STATES .mm' s. s'rRoNAcH, or OAK PARK, AND ROBERT c. ROWAN, or WHEATON, rumors.

PATENT OFFICE.

WIRE NAIL.

I Application filed January 26, 1923. Serial No. 614,966.

ToaZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HARRY S. STRONACH aHd'ROBERT C. ROWAN, citizens of the United States, residing, respectively, at Oak Park,

6 in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, and at Wheaton, in the county of Dupage and State of Illinois, have jointly invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wire Nails, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a new 'and improved nail and more specifically to a nail constructed'to avoid splitting material into which it is driven. a

Nails as at present commonly constructed "are rovided with points which are common y pyramidal in form. Wire nails are cylindrical from the point to the head, being sometimes provided with serrations on the body adjacent the head to aid in retaining them in place. When such nails are driven into wood or other fibrous'material, the pyramidal point enters between the fibers and forces them apart an amount necessary to permit passageiof the cylindrical body of the nail.

When relatively thin wood or wood adapted to split easily is used and the nails are driven adjacent the endsor edges ofs the wood strips,- there is a marked tendency for the wood to be split by the entering action of the'pyramidal point. It is necessaryto displace sufiicient of the wood fiber to provide an opening for the passage of the body of the I a nail. Thiscan be accomplished by dividing the fibers as is done by a pyramidal point, or it can be accomplished by cutting and crushing the fibers and'to a certain extent carrying them down' with the nail as it enters, which method is accomplished by the forms comprising the present invention. Where thenail cuts, crushes or tears and carries with'it the fiber,-the fiber is cut and thus portions of fiber adjacent the nail opening are not materially displaced. Lateral tl llllSl] is not sufiicient to cause splitting.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved construction of fiber may be out and crushed rather than laterally displaced by the entrance of the nail in the material,

' It is a further object to provide a corn struction of this character which is symgeneral use. the entering portion of nailswhereby the metrical whereby it operates equally efliciently regardless of the relative position of the nail. I p

It is an additional object to provide a nail construction adapted to carry the crushed and cut fibers down with the nail as it enters the fibrous material.

It isalso a n object to provide a construction which may be readily manufactured at small cost and which is adapted for com-' structed according to one form of ourinvention;

Figure 2 is a View of Figure 1 as seen from the right;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary section taken on line3-3 of Figure 2;

'Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 showing a modified form of device; Y

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 3 showing a further modified form;

Figure ,6 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing a modified form;

Figure 7 is a view of Figure 6 asseen from the right;

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing a further modification;

Figure 9 is a view of Figure 8 as seen from the right;

Figure 10 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing a still further modification;

Figure 11 is a view of Figure 10 as'seen from the'right; and v Figures 12 and 13 are views similar to F igure 2 showing further modified forms of the nail.

In the form of nail shown in Figures 1 to 3, the body of the nail 15 is substantially cylindrical in form and carries the flattened head 16. This design is similar to that of the so'-called wire nail as is at present in The entering portion of the nail is reduced by means of three chamfering cuts 17 so that its end 18 is approximately triangular in form. The edges formed by the intersection of the cuts 17 adjacent the end are stepped as indicated at 19, The axial faces of these steps are substantially parallel to the axis of the nail. In the modified form shown in Figure 4, the faces 20 ofthe steps slope downwardly toward the nail point while in the form shown in Figure 5, the faces 21 of the steps or serrations are reversely sloped.

The form of nail shown in Figures 6 and i 7 is similar to that shown in Figure 1, with plane substantially parallel to the axis of the nail with their lower portions 25 rounded .off. In the form of construction shown in Figures 10 and 11, the end 26 of the nail is substantially'square as shown in Figure 11, and is somewhat reduced in size from the cross-section of the body of the nail. This square end '26 is secured by means of fourcuts 27. in Figures 12 and 13, forms are shown which are generally similar to the form of Figuresfi and 7, the cuts forming concave and convex surfaces 28 and 29, respectively, rather than the flat surfaces of the other figures. The entering face is thus a triangle with curved sides.

ft is an essential feature of all forms of the device that the entering face of the nail he of appreciable size and be upon a plane substantially transverse to the axis of the nail. This face enters the wood or other fibrous material by cutting the fibers upon its edges and crushing the fibers around the cutting edge of the nails or the serrations instead of the usual spreading wedge effect. The serrations formed upon the types of nails shown in Figures 1 to 5 aid materially in cutting and tearing the fibers sufficiently to avoid splitting thrust. This form of enterin actions is distinctly different frohn the usua entering action of a pointed nail wherein the fibers are displaced laterally, causing a tendency to split.

By means of the present construction,this splitting tendency may be reduced to a minimum or may be eliminated. It is usually desirable that there bea certain amount of spread after the nail has begun to enter in order that there may be a gripping upon the nail to retain it in place. Thisgripping action is provided by means of the sloping cuts found upon the types of nails shown herein. lhe amount of this action may be controlled by governing the size of the entering face; for example, it may be made relatively small as shown in Figure 2, or relatively large as shown in Figures 7 and 9, or of an intermediate size as shown in Figure 11. Obviously,

the serrations or'steps shown in Figures 1 to 5 maybe applied to the other forms of nail.

While we have shown various modified forms of our device, the construction is capable of further modifications and it is our transverse of the axis of the nail, said fiat surface covering a material portion of the cross-sectional area of the nail body, and being less in area than said cross-section, said surface being joined to the lateral surface of the nail by sloping surfaces.

2. A nail comprising a head, a body of substantially uniform cross-section, and an en tering end comprising a flat surface transverse of the axis of the nail, said flat surface covering a material portion of the cross sectional area of the nail body, and being symmetrical about the axis of the nail, said surface being joined to the lateral surface of the nail. by sloping surfaces.

3. A nail comprising a head, a body of substantially uniform cross-section, and an entering end comprising a flat surface transverse of the axis of the nail, the surface be- .ing bounded by a plurality of straight lines, said lines being joined to the lateral surface of the body of the nail by means of sloping surfaces.

t. A nail comprising a head, a body of substantially uniform cross-section, and an ntering end comprising a flat surface transverse of the axis of the nail, the surface being bounded by a plurality of straight lines, said lines being joinedto the lateral surface of the body of the nail by means of sloping surfaces, said sloping surfaces intersecting to form ridges sloping from the lateral sur faceto the entering surface.

5. A nail comprising a head, a body of substantially uniform cross-section, and an entering end comprising a flat surface transverse of the, axis of the nail, the surface being bounded by a plurality of straight lines, said lines being joined to the body of the nail by means of sloping surfaces, said surfaces intersecting to form ridges sloping to the entering surface and serrations formed in said ridges.

6. A nail comprising a head, a cylindrical body, and an entering end comprising a flat surface transverse of the axis of the nail, said surface being defined by lines each of a length greater than the radius of the nail body.

7. A nail comprising a head, a cylindrical body, and an enterin end comprising fiat surface transverse of the axis of thenail,

raeaeve said surface being symmetrical about the axis of the nail and being defined by lines each of a length greater than the radius of the-nailbody; said edges of the entering surface being joined to the surface of the nail body by slopingcutayvay portions.

9. A nail comprising a head, a cylindrical body, and an entering end comprising a flat surface transverse of the axis of the nail, said surface being defined bystraight lines each of a length greater than the radius of the nail body, said edges of the surface being joined to the nail body by sloping cutaway portions, said cutaway portions meeting adjacent the entering surface to form ridges, and serrations formed in the ridges.

10.. A nail comprising a head, a cylindrical body, and an entering end comprising a triangular fiat surface transverse of the axis of the nail, the triangle being equilateral and symmetrical about the axis of the cylindrical body, and being joined to the lateral surface of said body by sloping fiat surfaces.

11. A nail comprising a head, acylindrical body and an entering end comprising a triangular flat surface transverse of the axis of the nail, the triangle being'equilateral-and symmetrical about the axis of the cylindrical body, and being joined to said body by sloping flat surfaces, the flat sur faces meeting to form ridges and the ridges being serratcu.

12, A nail comprising a head, a body and an entering end, said end joining the body by cutaway portions, the cutawa ortions forming ridges at their points of junction with each other, and serrations formed in said ridges.

Signed at New York, New York, this 19th day of January, 1923. Signed at Chicago, of January, 1923.

HARRY S. STRONACH. ROBERT C. ROWAN.

Illinois, this 24th day 

